Motion City Soundtrack, Set Your Goals, This Providence & The Swellers 02/03/10
After the whole Jimmy Fallon debacle I did end up getting to see Motion City Soundtrack play the next night at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza, just a few blocks away from Union Square. I transferred my pent-up excitement from the night before and was extremely happy to know I was seeing two of my favourite bands that night.
The opening band was The Swellers from Michigan and because I thought that This Providence (a band I don’t really have any interest in) would be opening I missed half of The Swellers set before I realized my mistake. The couple of songs I did see were really impressive and the melodies, combined with the lead singer Nick Diener’s vocals reminded me of No Use For A Name. They definitely have that late 90s Fat Wreck sound. I felt guilty for missing most of their set so I hit up the merch table afterwards and bought their 2009 album Ups and Downsizing for only $10. Since my purchase, the cd has been on almost continual rotation on my stereo, – my favourite tracks so far are Fire Away, Sleeper and 2009.
As I mentioned before, I wasn’t very interested in watching This Providence but I decided to give them a go. Their flawlessly straightened bangs and tight pants were something that would have made me swoon a few years ago (but then again, back then wasn’t every band trying desperately to be the next Panic! at the Disco?) but hardly made an impression on me this time, apart from the fact it made me even more cynical toward their generic blend of pop/rock/indie/nothing special music. Apart from the singer of the band hailing from Australia, the most memorable thing I’ve heard about This Providence is the controversy surrounding one of their recent music videos.
If I was completely disinterested in This Providence, then I was completely, whole-heartedly passionate about the next band on the line-up. Bay Area hardcore kids Set Your Goals are a band I love and that I’ve written about on here before but this was the first time I’d seen them play in New York. I was also hoping that they might have Brooklyn band I Am the Avalanche vocalist Vinnie Caruana (another one of my music obsessions) make a guest appearance (he appears on the title track on their most recent album, This Will Be the Death of Us). From the second the band set foot on stage I was rapt and the smile never left my face. AND the third last song of the set was preceeded by the announcement they were going to have a little help from none other than Vinnie IATA! The show could have finished after SYG’s set and I would have gone home happy, that’s how much I love them.
SYG Setlist: Gaia Bleeds Goonies Never Say Die Look Closer The Fallen Echoes Summer Jam This Will Be the Death of Us (feat. Vinnie IATA) To be Continued MutinySet Your Goals – Echoes
Set Your Goals – This Will Be the Death of Us feat. Vinnie Caruana IATA
After what seemed like an eternity between the sets, but in reality was less than twenty minutes, Motion City Soundtrack finally took to the stage and were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. They straight away launched into Worker Bee, a song off the new album, My Dinosaur Life. Surprisingly, the second song of the set was the perennial favourite The Future Freaks Me Out. This song choice freaked me out a bit though since every time I’ve seen them in the past (and it’s been many many times) this song has always been close to the end or the encore song. I guess with the release of album #4 they want to mix things up a bit now. That being said, the most highly featured songs were from the last two albums, with just a smattering from I Am the Movie and Commit This to Memory. Even so, everyone in the crowd, myself included, lapped up everything MCS had to offer. I spent the entire set singing along, jumping up and down, and running up and down the different levels of the Filmore trying to get a better view before settling on a spot right in front of the soundbooth upstairs to enjoy the encore. As a special treat Justin Pierre brought out a Barbershop Dozen (not sure if this term technically exists but it was the same as a Barbershop Quartet except there were about 12 guys instead of 4) to perform an acapella version of Fell In Love Without You before the rest of the band came back out for the encore. They’ve sure come a long way since the first time I saw them when they supported MxPx at the UNSW Roundhouse back in 2005 and we shared gum and skittles together at the bar, but they’re still playing with the same enthusiasm and energy and that’s what I love about them.
Motion City Soundtrack Setlist: Worker Bee The Future Freaks Me Out My Favorite Accident Broken Heart Delirium This is For Real When You’re Around Pulp Fiction Motherfuckers Last Night A Life(less) Ordinary Even If It Kills Me Attractive Today Perfect Teeth Her Words Destroyed Me Lgfuad Disappear Everything’s AlrightMotion City Soundtrack – A Life(less) Ordinary
Motion City Soundtrack – Everything’s Alright
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